Are Newer Sleep Aids Superior?

The Oregon Health & Science University recently posted an
on-line report (Drug Class Review on Newer Sedative
Hypnotics, December 2005) that offers an answer to this question.
The authors conclude that most comparisons found the
newer sedative hypnotics no better than older benzodiazepine
hypnotics in terms of efficacy and short-term adverse events.

The comprehensive review of clinical trials investigating the
efficacy and safety of hypnotic agents covered both the older
benzodiazepine sleep aids and the newer sleep aids introduced
since 1992. It included 141 trials with both direct headto-
head and indirect comparisons of the newer sleep aids. The
researchers found some differences among the newer sleep
aids on some outcome measures, but no one drug appeared to
be consistently better.